Scaramouche had only just awakened, barely registering his newfound power, when he found his body moving against his will.
It was only then that he belatedly realized something was amiss. A surge of fury and murderous intent flooded his mind.
Without hesitation, Scaramouche understood that Great Sage Azar had tampered with him, and the sage had struck to eliminate this perceived threat.
Yet his attack froze mid-motion. No matter how desperately he tried to regain control, his efforts proved futile.
"Azar!"
Scaramouche gritted his teeth, spitting out Azar's name with venom. Despite having ascended to godhood, he was being controlled by a mere ant, a humiliation that made him seethe with rage and yearn to tear his tormentor limb from limb.
"Quiet, Scaramouche," Azar said coldly, abandoning even the pretense of courtesy. "Just be a good dog for me. Otherwise, I'll erase your very self."
Consumed by inner humiliation, Great Sage Azar couldn't be bothered with superficial niceties anymore. "Now, eliminate the others."
He glared at the surrounding Matra and surviving Sages, his eyes burning with murderous intent. These people had stood by and watched his suffering with cold indifference—now they would pay the price!
"The new Akademiya doesn't need this many people."
"Azar!"
Scaramouche roared, his body moving against his will to attack the others present. Elemental power erupted in the God-Making Workshop, swirling into raging storms that hurtled toward the crowd.
"Azar, you're insane!"
The surviving Sages never imagined Azar would actually attack. Panic and fury gripped them, their bodies chilling to the bone.
"Indeed," Azar replied with a chilling smile. "I am insane."
Great Sage Azar coldly surveyed the fleeing crowd before speaking again.
"This is all your fault!"
"You're truly fucking shameless!"
One Sage couldn't restrain himself, erupting in a furious tirade.
"You secretly tampered with Shouki no Kami behind our backs, and now you dare claim we forced your hand?!"
"From the start, you never intended to share control of Shouki no Kami with us! You're the height of hypocrisy!"
"You decrepit old bastard! May you be born without an anus!"
Hearing these insults, Great Sage Azar's eyes flashed with icy fury. He immediately ordered Scaramouche to attack the Sage.
A massive energy blast completely obliterated the Sage from existence, leaving no trace behind.
"Damn you! Damn you! You despicable insect! How dare you desecrate the divine?!"
"Azar! I swear I'll make you wish you were dead!"
Scaramouche continued his barrage of curses while carrying out Great Sage Azar's orders to slaughter the remaining Sages with merciless brutality.
"Survive!"
A sudden force shoved a Matra violently aside. As he regained his footing and turned back, he saw his comrade torn apart by a raging storm.
The Matra's pupils dilated sharply, utterly stunned that the very person who had constantly targeted him would sacrifice himself to save him in a life-or-death moment.
For a moment, he felt as if he had lost the ability to speak and breathe, his heart clenching painfully.
He regretted it. The other Matra had mocked him earlier, warning him that this project's waters ran too deep for him to handle, but he had dismissed the caution and insisted on participating.
Throughout this time, the other Matra, having joined the project earlier and holding a slightly higher rank, had harassed him at every turn.
Resentment had festered in his heart, and he had even cursed for something to happen to the other Matra.
Only now did he realize that the other Matra had genuinely meant well. The disaster he had feared had indeed occurred, but the sacrifice had come in a way he never anticipated.
A violent tremor shook the ground as the floor began to buckle under the relentless onslaught of the Shouki no Kami, threatening to collapse.
It was only then that the Matra, who had narrowly escaped death, finally snapped out of his shock and fled desperately.
Faster! I must move faster!
I can't let his sacrifice be in vain!
I must expose everything that happened here to the world!
Wiping tears from the corner of his eye, the Matra pushed himself to his absolute limit.
Under the Shouki no Kami's overwhelming power, less than twenty percent of the living remained after just three minutes. Yet Great Sage Azar showed no intention of calling a halt, his hatred burning too fiercely.
But at that moment, the ground shattered from below as Lumine, covered in dust, swung her forty-meter Dull Blade, crackling with Electro energy, in a powerful strike against the Shouki no Kami.
The Shouki no Kami easily blocked Lumine's attack. Though she inflicted no damage, her intervention halted the massacre of the ordinary people.
"Annoying insect!"
Even though he had been manipulated by Great Sage Azar, Lumine's attack still shattered Scaramouche's composure.
After all, Lumine had previously been entirely at his mercy. Now that he had ascended to godhood, she dared to stand before him, disrupting his plans.
Furious, Scaramouche immediately focused the bulk of his power on Lumine, unleashing his full might in a desperate attempt to crush this insolent mortal who dared challenge a god.
Great Sage Azar was stunned to see Lumine emerge unscathed from the Shouki no Kami's onslaught, seemingly without even serious injuries.
Until this moment, Azar had only heard tales of Lumine's formidable strength. This moment, however, revealed the truth: her power was only slightly weaker than that of the Shouki no Kami itself.
But this shouldn't be happening!
Great Sage Azar had clearly seen Lumine utterly unable to withstand the Shouki no Kami's attacks, instantly being blasted deep underground.
At that moment, another figure surged from the depths, charging straight toward Great Sage Azar.
When the Great Sage finally recognized the newcomer, his shock intensified.
Alhaitham!
How?
Even if the Traveler truly possessed the immense power to survive the Shouki no Kami's full-force strike, how could Alhaitham have survived as well, seemingly unscathed save for a bit of dirt?
Another purple figure erupted from below, hurtling toward Great Sage Azar's position. The Great Sage instantly recognized General Mahamatra Cyno.
Great Sage Azar was on the verge of madness. He had originally anticipated only a severely wounded Nahida surviving this scheme, but the reality far exceeded his worst fears.
"This can't be happening!"
Despite his disbelief, the figures before him were undeniable. For his own safety, Great Sage Azar immediately ordered Scaramouche to come to his rescue.
Just as Scaramouche was about to unleash his full power against Lumine, Great Sage Azar's command abruptly forced him to halt his attack.
"Azar!"
The sudden stop caused a massive backlash, sending a searing pain through Scaramouche's head. Once his mental state stabilized slightly, he couldn't help but unleash a torrent of curses at the Great Sage.
"Damn you, you insignificant insect!"
"How dare you toy with me, a god?!"
"I'll kill you! I swear, I'll kill you!"
Seizing the opportunity, Lumine targeted the Shouki no Kami's weak point with a devastating strike, inflicting significant damage and enraging Scaramouche to the point of vomiting blood.
In the next moment, the Shouki no Kami, caught in a pincer attack by Alhaitham and Cyno, successfully rescued Great Sage Azar.
Scaramouche seethed with the urge to crush Azar to death, but no matter what he did, he couldn't regain control of the Shouki no Kami. His relentless stream of curses against the Great Sage never ceased.
Watching Azar being rescued and his plan to seize him during the chaos fail, Alhaitham's expression remained calm, betraying no particular emotion.
Alhaitham first surveyed the hellish scene around him, his gaze radiating a chilling intensity. Then, using the Akasha Terminal on his wrist, he activated a hidden backdoor program. Immediately, the Shouki no Kami's movements became erratic.
Great Sage Azar, who had been about to unleash a fresh wave of taunts at Alhaitham and Cyno, suddenly felt an immense pressure crushing his body. His eyes nearly bulged from their sockets as a series of sharp cracking sounds echoed from his limbs. For a moment, he thought his bones were about to shatter.
In that instant, Azar's vision flickered, and a purple figure materialized before him.
"Azar, it's over."
Cyno, his weapon pressed against Azar's neck, forcibly yanked him from the Shouki no Kami's grasp and retreated swiftly.
The Shouki no Kami's arm lunged forward, only to grasp at empty air.
"We did it! We succeeded!" Paimon exclaimed, flying up from below, her face alight with joy.
Hearing Paimon's words, Alhaitham shook his head.
"It's not time to celebrate yet. The safeguard I implemented, designed for maximum concealment, can only subtly influence Azar's commands. It cannot completely wrest control from him."
After speaking, Alhaitham gazed at the colossal form of the Shouki no Kami in the distance, a flicker of shock in his eyes.
He genuinely hadn't expected the Akademiya's joint research project with the Fatui to succeed, truly enabling Azar to create a god. The earlier attack had given him a fleeting glimpse of his great-grandmother in the heavenly realm. Had he not activated the backdoor he'd left in the Divine Knowledge Capsule at the critical moment, forcing the Shouki no Kami to withdraw some of its power, they would have faced certain doom.
Moreover, Azar's ruthlessness had shattered Alhaitham's preconceptions. He had brazenly disposed of dozens of Sages before their very eyes, without the slightest hesitation.
By this time, Nahida and the others had returned to this level.
Cyno dragged Great Sage Azar before Nahida, tossed him carelessly to the ground, and declared, "Lesser Lord Kusanali, I have apprehended the criminal Azar. He is now at your disposal!"
The brutal fall jolted Great Sage Azar out of his shock. His face contorted in disbelief.
"No, this can't be happening!"
"Scaramouche, what are you doing?! Why did you let me fall into their hands so easily? Aren't you afraid I'll completely erase your sense of self?!"
"Shut up, Azar! You dare threaten me with the very thing you're responsible for!"
Scaramouche seethed with rage. The realization that he was controlled by more than one person caused his pent-up fury to explode.
"You wretched insects! I'll make you pay the most agonizing price imaginable!"
At that moment, a spatial rift tore open, and Enjou emerged from the Abyss Channel, leading Dr. Zachariah by the arm.
Dr. Zachariah's face turned deathly pale as he took in the carnage before him. His teeth chattered uncontrollably. This scene was like a nightmare come to life.
Great Sage Azar's eyes locked onto Enjou, and comprehension dawned.
"You!" Azar snarled through gritted teeth. "So you were behind this! You deliberately left behind the Divine Knowledge Capsule, just to lure me into your trap!"
Hearing this, Enjou retorted mercilessly, "Yes, and what good does knowing that do you now?! You decrepit old fool, scheming against Princess Lumine like that! You should be grateful you didn't fall into Prince Aether's hands. Otherwise, you'd have tasted suffering worse than death!"
The memory of what had just transpired left Enjou with no shred of sympathy for Great Sage Azar. If anything had happened to Lumine, Aether would never have let him off the hook.
"Azar, you're our prisoner now. If you know what's good for you, order him to stop at once!"
At that moment, Nahida withdrew her gaze from Shouki no Kami, her expression shifting from intense complexity to resolute determination as she turned to Great Sage Azar.
"Stop your futile struggle. You've already failed."
"You've killed so many more people! Your sins are beyond reckoning!"
The thought of the dozens of new followers she had just gained suddenly vanishing, like a puff of smoke, filled Nahida with grief.
So many precious followers, gone just like that!
She recalled how these individuals had endured humiliation and hardship, infiltrating the Akademiya for years, some even rising to the rank of Sage, all to rescue her from Great Sage Azar and the other stubborn Sages.
Yet in their final moments, she had shown them neither gratitude nor even a shred of trust. Overwhelmed by guilt, Nahida's fury toward Great Sage Azar intensified.
She couldn't fathom how the Great Sage of the Akademiya—a man of such esteemed status—could sink to such depravity.
What a perfect facade he maintained!
The realization that she had once sought the approval of such a man, even to the point of internal conflict, struck her as utterly absurd.
Hearing Nahida's words, Great Sage Azar's face twisted into a mask of unbearable ugliness.
Great Sage Azar desperately wanted to fight to the death, but a flicker of fear and hesitation crept into his heart. The opportunity to etch his name in history was so close—he could become an object of veneration for all future generations of Sumeru. How could he bear to die here?
Just as the Great Sage was about to propose terms to Nahida, Paimon suddenly let out a startled cry, drawing everyone's attention. The sight that greeted them left everyone stunned.
Paimon had been taken hostage.
And her captor was none other than the long-missing Dr. Edward!